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If there were no humans to cut forests down, they'd be renewing themselves too. Trees die, fall and rot. Releasing a part of their captured carbon back, and rel
by berkes 3y ago
If there were no humans to cut forests down, they'd be renewing themselves too. Trees die, fall and rot. Releasing a part of their captured carbon back, and releasing some methane (a worse greenhouse gas than carbon-dioxide).
Now that there are humans to cut them down, it makes no difference in re-release of carbon, as long as we replenish the forests in the same rate as we cut them down. Which we don't, but we could.
Point being, on the grand scale of things, using (not burning) wood is fine as long as it is renewed. Letting it rot or burning it after use, is fine too. It's what the world would do without humans anyway, without that causing a run-off greenhouse effect.
Obviously, processing wood costs energy (footprint), but from what I know when I studied this stuff (early 2000s) steel and concrete are way, way (way!) worse in this, so on that scale too, wood is preferable. It really is magic stuff.
- mulmen 3y agoI agree. But you are describing a carbon neutral system. The article claims wooden wind turbines are carbon negative. This is only true on a short time scale. Once all wind turbines are wood and the first generation reaches EOL they become carbon neutral.
- berkes 3y agoMaybe they are "carbon negative" in the same way as many datacenters or international flights are "carbon neutral": by buying it off: e.g. planting more trees than they cut? But I guess you are right and they're just doing short-term bookkeeping here.
- mulmen 3y agoYeah it's a great technology and we should absolutely pursue it but I think they are overstating the benefits a bit.
- bluGill 3y agoThey can still be carbon negative if at EOL we don't release the carbon. Turn it into charcoal is an obvious idea, but other options may exist.
- mulmen 3y agoThe charcoal is only carbon negative if we also bury it. Those “other options” all fall under “sequestration“.